aventuras en los autobuses.

Reflections.

“For the average person in the world who lives their life or considers their life boring or uninspiring is because they have made no attempt to gain the knowledge and information that will inspire them. There are so hypnotized by their environment through the media, through television, through people living and creating ideals that everybody struggles to become, that no one can actually become in terms of physical appearance and definitions of beauty and valor, that are all illusions that most people surrender and live their life in mediocrity and they may live that life and their desire may not really rise to the surface and they may want to be something else; but if it does rise to the surface, and they ask themselves if there is something more, why am I here? What is the purpose of the life? Where am I going? What happens when I die? They start to answer those questions, they start to flirt and interact with the perception with the fact they may be having a nervous breakdown but in reality what they’re doing is that their old concepts of how they viewed their life in the world, start to fall apart.” - What the bleep to we know? (Youtube.com)

I have been spending a lot of time thinking about where life is taking me, where I should choose to go and what would ultimately make me happy. I can’t really say that I know quite yet, but I do know that right now I am pretty content in my situation and where I am in life. I am very happy where I am right now. That’s not to say that I have no ambition to pursue greater goals.

The past few weeks, or even months, have you, I have been exploring, taking the time to think more deeply and even taking the time to rebuild myself. It’s been a great journey and I have been learning to so much.

I am so blessed to have met the people I know here in Avila. I have such a wonderful group of friends from different places around the world. It makes things interesting and you learn that people are quite nearly the same wherever you go. Yes, culturally, that may factor into the differences we perceive from another person, of even the language have you, but most people generally have the same dreams, ambitions, hopes, aspirations… and even humor! Before Christmas vacation, a few of my friends and I spent the evening watching the Gag-Reel Bloopers from FRIENDS on youtube. It was about an hour long, and though some of us didn’t understand English (we didn’t find it subtitled in Spanish neither), during some scenes, we laughed so hard, our sides began to hurt.

one of my favorite quotes: “We are 90% alike and 10% different. The 10% of difference is a gift to others.”

Being far from home puts things into perspective. When you are away from the ones you love for a prolonged period of time, you begin to miss them, to wonder if they’ve changed drastically, to worry how things will be like upon returning, and of course, to long to be around them physically, just for a few moments. With the creation of Skype, the ability to webcam and other forms of fast communication, things are easier but of course, not being immediately at one’s side, can often times be difficult.

It was rather funny because this past week, I had two incidents where my friends asked me, “how can you be away for so long? I don’t know how you do it.” One of them had just arrived in Singapore for a business trip and had only been there for three days, whereas the other had gone to Alabama just for the weekend. Being away does become difficult, but you just have to remember to enjoy what you have while it’s in front of you and not take what you’ve been given for granted (& remedy the homesickness by calling your family or best friends, of course!)

I am happy to say, I finally saw my parents “faces” for the first time since July. It had been, what I feel, ages since I last talked to them. It was relieving and gratifying at the same time. I didn’t realize the frustration built over time due to not seeing them for nearly 6 months. Chatting with them via Skype somehow lifted a burden off my shoulders and I can say, I feel better (& probably less homesick without realizing it!) Thank goodness for Skype!

Anyway, aside from that, teaching is going well. This week, I taught my students about Martin Luther King, Jr. It’s interesting to know that so few of this current generation know little about him. I was excited to see that most of my students were generally interested in knowing the history of racial conflict in the United States. It’s a topic that people often disregard here, since most think it’s more relative to the United States rather than a recurring global issue (which can be argued and true to some extent). I showed an excerpt from The March on Washington, his famous, “I Have a Dream” speech. By the way, did you know that the words from his speech was remixed and converted into some random House song? One of my students actually began playing it on her phone! (check it out on youtube, starts @2:20: Secret Service - I Have a Dream Today).

So, I have more thoughts, but I suppose I can save them for another day when I actually have the time to sit down and blog. Until next time!

Above Avila on El Pico de Zapatero